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Friday night marks the return to the sideline for New Hampshire head coach Sean McDonnell for the first time since November 17, 2018. Little did he know when a four month leave-of-absence (for medical reasons) began that covid would strike and this moment wouldn't come for more than two years. Ricky Santos served as interim head coach in 2019 and guided the team to a 6-5 campaign.
McConnell is 154-95 overall, including 101-53 in Durham.
Using the Congrove Computer Rankings as the guide, this game pits No. 20 UNH against No. 9 Albany in a key CAA northern division matchup. The latest STATS Perform FCS Top 25 media poll has Albany 13th and New Hampshire 14th.
The Wildcats and Great Danes are playing spring ball in the same division as Delaware, Maine, Rhode Island, Stony Brook and Villanova.
The southern division contains James Madison, Elon, Richmond and William & Mary.
Teams in the northern half are playing each other once (three home, three away), while teams in the South will meet twice in a home-and-home format.
The team with the best overall conference record will earn an automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs.
New Hampshire hopes to return to the NCAA playoffs for the first time since 2017 when the Wildcats won twice before falling to South Dakota State in the quarterfinals.
When the Great Danes made the playoffs in their last season, it was just their second-ever appearance. Albany moved up to the FCS level in 1999. Bob Ford built the program and left with a record of 256-169 from 1973 to 2013. His successor, Greg Gatusso, is 33-37 with 9 of those victories in 2019.
New Hampshire is 5-3 all-time vs. Albany, but the Great Danes have taken 3 of the last 4. Albany won the last matchup, 24-17 in Alabany on November 16, 2019.
The battle tonight is expected to be tight one with oddsmakers listing Albany as a 2-point betting favorite and the Congrove Computer Rankings in agreement (barely) with a 2.11-point advantage to the visitors.
History says that would be a bit of an upset as UNH has been almost unstoppable at home, going undefeated in 2019 and winning 18-of-23 games in Wildcat stadium since it opened in 2016. New Hampshire has won 14 of its last 15 home openers..
New Hampshire returns seven starters on both sides of the ball. On offense, that includes the quarterback, running back, two wide receivers and three offensive lineman; last year's leading rusher and receiver were lost to graduation. On defense, the Wildcats return three defensive linemen (one end, both tackles), a linebacker and 3 DB's.
Albany returns its quarterback and leading rusher, but loses its top two receivers. The defense welcomes back four of the top five tacklers, including the top three.